Draw-bridge gate



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

0. MOEN.

DRAW BRIDGE GATE.

No. 396,662. Patented Jan. 22, 1889.

Wwwas/ 1364 QZaJ/e m V 7" M) NA PETERS. Phnlu-Lilhugra (No Model.) 2 Sheets--Sheet. 2.

0. MOEN.

DRAW BRIDGE GATE. No. 396,662. Patented Jan. 22, 1889.

M H A8 3 7,! ,2 I I I] 2 k L a 7 1 Jay. 5

- f/farw? N. PETERS. F'hohrLilhugraphen Washington. D c.

PATENT EEicE,

OLE MOEN, OF MANISTEE, MICHIGAN.

DRAW-BRIDGE GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 396,662, dated January 22, 1889.

Application filed July 20, 1888. Serial No. 280,531. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLE MOEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Manistce, in the county of Manistee and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful In1- provements in Draw-Bridge Gates; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to draw-bridge gates which are automatically opened and closed above the surfaces of piers or abutments by the swinging of the draw spans or bridges; and it consists in the improved construction and arrangement or combination of parts, hereinafter fully disclosed in the description, drawings, and claims.

Many dii'ficulties have hitherto arisen in making practical that class of gates which are raised and lowered from the surfaces of roadwaysas, for instance, when the gate is located in the joint between the end of the draw span or bridge and the abutment or pier a sufficient space is required between them to receive the gate bars and rails, and this space, even when the parts are closely fitted, is liable to become clogged and obstructed by ice, snow, and mud, and is also liable to impede and entrap teams and foot-passengers The objects of my invention are to overcome these and other objections, and said objects are, first, to provide the roadway and sidewalks of a draw span or bridge with separate gates,which are successively closed and opened by the swinging of said draw span or bridge in opening and closing the same, and which are held properly secured or locked in their open and closed positions; second, to provide the vertical shafts or posts to which the gates are attached with bifurcated levers or detents, which are adapted to be tilt-ed to revolve said gate posts or shafts by a finger or dog secured upon the end of the pivoted or swinging draw span or bridge and, third, to secure said bifurcated levers or detents upon the lower ends of said gate posts or shafts and below the floor of the pier or abutment, and to also secure said finger or dog upon the under side of the floor of the draw span or bridge and at an angle to the central line thereof. 1 accomplish these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which the same reference-numerals indicate the same parts.

Figure 1 represents a broken top plan view of an abutment or pier and the end of a draw span or bridge provided with my improve ments; Fig. 2, a broken plan view of the under side of the same, showing the draw span or bridge closed, and also the gates open in dotted lines; Fig. 3, a broken plan view of the under side of the end of the draw span or bridge, showing the same in the act of being opened, and also in dotted lines two of the gates closed; Fig. 4, a longitudinal vertical section of a portion of the pier or abutment and end of the draw span or bridge, and Fi 5 a detail View of one of the spring latches for receiving and holding the gates when open.

In the accompanying drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the pier or abutment, 2 the floor of the same, 3 the pivoted or swinging draw span or bridge, and 3 the floor thereof.

Three gates, 4, are firmly secured to the upper portions of the posts or shafts 5, which are journaled at their lower ends in the vertical bearings 6, which are secured in the floor of the pier or abutment along the edges of the roadway and sidewalks. Three bifurcated levers or detents, 7, are secured to the lower ends of the gate posts or shafts 5 and below the door of the pier or abutment, each being formed with a short finger or prong, 8, and a long finger or prong, 9. Three latches, 10, each formed of an inclined or beveled and rounded spring-catch 11, are secured upon the beams or copings 12, which border the roadway and sidewalks, and are adapted to receive and hold the gates when opened; also, at the same time they allow said gates to be swung closed without undue resistance; also, three abutments or stops, 13, are secured upon the pier or abutment floor at points at right angles to the latches 10, and serve to receive and hold the gates when closed.

A finger or dog, 14:, is secured upon the under side of the floor of the pivoted draw span or bridge and projects with its tapering or beveled outer end beyond the segmental edge of the end of the same.

The bifurcated levers or detents 7 are arranged, as shown in the plan views in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, in the line of a segment of a circle, so that the finger or dog 14 may engage them all successively and in the same manner when the draw span or bridge is swung or turned. This finger or dog is preferably secured slightly oblique to the line of the draw span or bridge, for the reason now explained. hen the draw is swung open or in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 3, the beveled or tapering end of the finger or dog 14 will, owing to its oblique position, enter between the fingers or prongs S and 9 of the bifurcated levers or detents 7 and tilt two of them into the positions shown in Fig. 3, thereby closing the gates. The short fingers or prongs 8 of said bifurcated levers or detents will admit of the finger or dog 14 readily leaving the space between said prongs without resistance, as clearly shown in the central lever shown in Fig. 3. The latches 10 yield with sufficient ease to allow the gates to be closed, and the abutinents or stops 13 arrest the swinging gates when closed and hold them in their closed positions. NVhen the draw span or bridge is to be closed and the gates opened, the finger or dog 14 will be successively brought to bear against the long prongs 9 of the bifurcated levers or detents with its side which is inclined toward saiddetents, and thereby it will tilt said levers or detents back, and consequently move the gates into their open positions. The latches 10 also admit of the gates being swung beyond the line in which they normally stand when open, so that the finger or dog it may unfailingly enter between the prongs of the bifurcated levers in closing said gates and still be in position to move into the spaces between said prongs when the draw span or bridge is open and in position to be closed. Thus the construction of the latches will admit of the gates swinging beyond them, and also of being engaged and held by them.

It will be evident from the foregoing that by this construction of gates and their operating mechanism the former will be closed successivel y when they are required to close communication between the pier or abutment and the end of the draw span or bridge, and that at the same time some of them will remain open at places where the draw still registers with the pier or abutment, so that passengers who may be upon the draw when it begins to be swung open may step off upon said pier or abutment before the swing is finished. I11 the same manner the gates will be successively opened for transit as the draw, progresses in closing.

I am aware that draw-bridge gates have been patented in which the gates are operated by intermediate mechanism having either bifurcated levers or slotted wheels which are engaged by belts or studs upon the draw, and I make no claim thereto; but I am not aware that the simplified construction and combination or arrangement of parts herein disclosed,

tion and arrangement or combination of my improvements in draw-bridge gates, their operation and advantages, what I claim as new 1s 1. The combination, with a pier or an abutmeutand a horizontally-swinging gate journaled thereon and provided with a lever or detent upon its vertical shaft, of a swinging draw span or bridge provided with a projecting finger or dog which is adapted to directly engage and turn said lever or detent and gate, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a pier or an abutm out and a horizontally-swingin g gate having a vertical post j ournaled thereon and provided with a bifurcated lever or detent, of a swinging draw span or bridge provided with a finger or dog which projects therefrom and is adapted to directly engage and turn said bifurcated lever or detent and gate, substantially as described. 7

3. The combination,with a pier or an abutment and a swinging draw span or bridge, of a series of gates provided with vertical posts which are journaled upon said pier or abutment, bifurcated detents projecting from said vertical gate-posts, and a finger or dog which projects from the end of said swinging draw span or bridge and is adapted to directly and successively engage and turn said bifurcated detents and the gates with them, substantially as described.

t. The combination, with a pier or an abutment and a swinging draw span or bridge, of a series of gates arranged in a segment of a circle having its center in the center of said draw span or bridge and provided with' vertical posts which are j ou rnaled with their lower ends in said pier or abutment, bifurcated detents projecting from the lower ends of said vertical gate-posts, and a finger or dog which projects from the end of said swinging draw span or bridge and is adapted to successively engage and turn said bifurcated detents and gates, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a pier or an abutment and a swinging draw span or bridge, of a gate provided with a vertically-j ournaled post, a bifurcated lever or detent secured to the lower end of said post and formed with a long finger or prong and a short finger or prong, and a finger or dog secured upon the end of said swinging draw span or bridge and adapted to engage and turn said bifurcated lever or detent and gate, substantially as described.

(5. The combination of a swinging draw span or bridge, a pier or an abutment provided with a roadway and sidewalks, having beams or copings, a series of gates provided with vertical posts which are journaled with their lower ends in bearings secured in said beams or coping-s, bifurcated levers or detents projecting from the lower ends of said posts, a finger or dog secured upon the end of said swinging draw span or bridge and adapted to engage said bifurcated levers or detents, springlatches secured upon said beams or copings,

and stops arranged upon said abutment or pier at points at right angles to said spring latches, substantially as and for the purpose described.

7. The combination of the swinging draw span or bridge 3, the pier or abutment 1, provided with the roadway and sidewalks, havin the beams or copings 12, the series of gates 4, provided with vertical posts 5, which are journaled at their lower ends in the bearings 6 in said beams or copings, the bifurcated levers or detents 7, projecting from the lower ends of said posts and formed with short and long fingers or prongs S and 9, the spring-latches 2o OLE MOEN.

lVitnesses:

JOHN A. THOMPSON, JAS. P. OBminn 

